Louisiana Gold Mile run won by SFA student Adam Saloom

It took some participants 54 minutes, and others well less than five minutes. Some people ran, some jogged, others walked and some even strolled or hitched a ride on the shoulders of a runner.

The third annual Louisiana Gold Mile run, hosted by Southern Runner and Louisiana Running Company on a route in City Park, had an eclectic mix of speeds, ages and personalities.

Adam Saloom, a 22-year-old graduate of Saint Thomas More High School in Lafayette and a student at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas, finished in four minutes, 21 seconds to take first place.

Saloom finished one second in front of Jonathon Thomas of Baton Rouge. The two were neck-and-neck as they came down the final stretch.

“I had to trick my mind,” Saloom said. “With about 200 (yards) left, I was telling myself, ‘just let ’em have it.’ All the people that came to watch were cheering and it just kind of gets your mind going. I was able to push through the pain.”

Former LSU track and cross country runner Laura Carleton was the first woman to finish, with a time of 5:00.

While many races are much longer than a mile, Saloom said he enjoys switching it up with the mile-long run.

“I wanted something competitive,” he said. “It was short enough to where I wasn’t going to kill myself for the next couple days. I could get it over with. I knew it was a good race to come to. Southern Runner and Louisiana Running, they’ve been improving this running community for a long time now.”

The temperature cooled to the mid-80s by the time the “elite” division started at City Park, but the infamous Louisiana humidity also was in the mid-80s.

Even though Saloom grew up in Louisiana, he said he has never really gotten used to the humidity.

Race director Mike Andrews said it was the second straight year that race organizers had to deal with weather, as it rained on the crew as they set up the event. But by the time the race began, it had cleared.

Heats began at 6:30 p.m. with walkers, strollers and dogs and progressively got faster, with heats for sub-10 minute runners, sub-eight minute runners and finally the “elite” heat.

When the race ended, music began and a party atmosphere took over. Whether a walker or a sprinter, the sponsors provided participants and spectators with whatever they needed — donuts, drinks, frozen yogurt and jambalaya.

Also teaming up at the finish line was the New Orleans Track Club, which provided finish-line technology and equipment for the race.

Andrews said the group of runners is diverse, and he plans to keep welcoming that diversity in coming years.

“What we’re going to try to do next year is get more sponsorship and take it downtown,” he said. “Every year, you’ve got to improve your product. Next year we can hopefully take it downtown and get a great band, a great party place. It’ll be super.”

A portion of the proceeds from the race are donated to the local DetermiNation chapter of the American Cancer Society.

The top three finishers, male and female, all earn a little money and awards and merchandise is given to other top finishers.